


Island of Awakening

by Rivaille960



Category: Dragon Quest Builders (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Don't Like Don't Read, Dragon Quest Builders 2 Spoilers, Drunk Sex, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Game: Dragon Quest Builders 2, Lesbian Sex, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Love at First Sight, Love/Hate, Mental Anguish, Mental Coercion, Mind Manipulation, Multi, Oral Sex, Pain, Rough Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Sex, Shower Sex, Touch-Starved, True Love, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:08:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25112881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivaille960/pseuds/Rivaille960
Summary: Selene is kidnapped from her home in Cantlin and held as a slave on a monster ship. When the boat sinks she finds herself on an island working hard to rebuild the life of those who suffered Hargon's teachings. OC Selene's adventures through her island of awakening and her falling hard for her best friend.
Relationships: Female Builder/ Anessa, Female Builder/Malroth (Dragon Quest Builders 2)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	1. Day 1

Darkness... it’s all consuming. I don’t remember how I got here... maybe it doesn’t matter. All I know is that it is the end... I’m drowning I know I am, but I can’t stop it... I don’t have the strength to pull myself out of the depths. Knowing that I’m at my end feels bittersweet knowing there is so much work left undone. I dreamt of becoming a great builder one day. Finally, I surrender to the dark wishing and praying for another way...

Selene   
I feel so heavy but oddly enough I feel warmth. Instinctively I curl into the warmth. “Finally, a live one...” a voice mutters. I start stirring at that. 

“Are you awake now?” The voice says softly... it almost sounds like that of a teenage boy. 

“Well!?” He sounds impatient if this is the other world something seems off. I finally open my eyes to see that I am being carried by the most beautiful boy I had ever seen. His jet-black hair is long and tied behind his back out of his way. The strands look so silky that I almost reach out to touch him. His skin is tanned from years spent in the sun. But what gets me... is those eyes. Large ruby eyes flecked with gold and silver framed by raven lashes. My heart shudders in my chest as I finally take in his annoyed glance. 

“I... yes... I’m sorry. You can put me down.” I say softly realizing that he must have pulled me out of the water. “It’s okay we’re almost at the beach. He says softly looking ahead as he carries me bridal style away from the water. When the boy finally sets me down it’s on beautiful white sand. I look around this place... this island. 

“There’s nothing here... this island... other than you must be deserted. I have no idea how I got here...” he says with a frown. 

“I’m Malroth...” he says quietly as he looks out to the sea before us. 

“It’s nice to meet you... I’m Selene. I am an apprentice builder.” I say offering him my hand. He just tilts his head in confusion.   
“Huh. Never heard of one of them before. Congratulations I guess.” It’s my turn to stare at him in confusion. I reach for his hand and shake it. He looks at our joined hands before looking back up at me. 

“How did you get here?” He says after I finally let go of his hand. I blink at that trying hard to remember. 

“I... I was on a ship... there was a really bad storm and the water broke through the hull of the ship.” I say in horror as I think back to the others that were with me.

“Oh no! We have to go look to see if anyone else survived!” I say making a dash for the other side of the beach where I can still see broken down parts of the boat. I run as fast as I can through the ankle-deep waters. When I get there my worst thoughts are materialized. There are corpses of humans and monsters littering the beach. I can only watch in shock as the waves from the ocean take the corpses back with them.

“Yeah it’s real gruesome over here. I hope you aren’t squeamish.” He says with a tinge of laughter in his voice.

“Yeah this is what I call dead in the water. I bet you’ve never seen anything like this before!” He’s grinning from ear to ear and I can’t help but stare at him in surprise. 

“It looks like you and me are the only survivors from the shipwreck.” I shake my head at him. 

“You weren’t on the ship.” His eyes flicker to me. 

“What’s that...? You don’t remember me from the ship? But if I wasn’t on your ship, how did I—-

“we both freeze when we hear a cough coming from behind Malroth. 

“What the...?!” We both look at each other and Malroth puts up his hand to me to get behind him as we inch closer to the sound. There is a body of a young girl who looks around mine and Malroth’s age. Her peach colored hair is strewn behind her in the water. 

“Hey, that girl isn’t dead after all!” She coughs out more water before she gasps taking in as much air as she can. 

“She sounds like she’s in a pretty bad way though. We should do the right thing and put her out of her misery.” I move passed Malroth deciding the girl is not a threat. I do remember her from the dungeon on the ship. 

“Hey it’s okay...” I help her sit up as she stares around herself in a daze.

“Where am I? How did I get here?” When she finally gets a look at Malroth and I she screams. “You’re P-p-p-pirates, aren’t you?! Filthy, freebooting brigands who shall take me captive and demand a ransom for my safe return!” She cries cowering away from us. I look up at Malroth who is giving her an annoyed look. She pulls away and makes a run for the beach into what looks like a broken-down house. Malroth offers me a hand that I take gratefully. 

“There she goes… she’s got a mouth on her, hasn’t she?” I chuckle at that as he continues.

“There’s only one way to make sure she shuts up for good. Mind if I do the honors?” He says looking at me for approval. I stare at him strangely for a moment before laughing again he has to be joking right? He has a bit of dark humor, but I decide I like Malroth.

“Let’s go explain we aren’t pirates.” I say with a smile, Malroth pouts but nods his head anyways. We both head to the house and see her cowering inside. I place a gentle hand on her shoulder only to watch her flinch and move away from me. 

“Get away from me! You villains! If you’re going to take me captive, at least tell me where we are and how I got here!” She says on the verge of hysterics. Malroth’s voice is soft as he addresses her.

“Well, we’re on an island with nothing but sand, rocks and a few corpses to keep us company. You must’ve washed up here with Selene when your ship sank.” The girl finally calms down enough to look at me and I can see the recognition in her eyes. 

“Just a moment… do I know you?” She questions. I am about to answer her, but it looks like she found her own answer. “Yes…. I remember! You’re that builder from the ship! The one who ran around grinning while those horrid monsters barked orders at you!” I smiled at that because I hadn’t realized I was grinning while I was building their ship back up. 

“I know you were in cahoots with them, so that means this is all your fault! Well? What are you going to do about it!?” She says and she sounds more upset than scared at this point. “I plan to make what we need to survive while we wait for a rescue party to come get us.” She seems satisfied with the answer. 

“Oh, well alright. Even a rank amateur like yourself should be able to use that worn-out workbench outside to make the most basic essentials.” She looks between Malroth and I. 

“I am Lulu, by the way. Now, what will we need to hold out until help arrives? Let me see…” I can see Malroth from the corner of my eye folding his arms over his chest. 

“We’ll need shelter from the elements while we wait to be rescued. I’d rather not die of exposure before then. The walls must be at least two blocks high, and we’ll need a door for getting in and out. Why not use this old shack? It’s rather worse for wear, but I’m sure you can fix the place up. You can salvage some of the decking from the wreckage to patch up any holes. Just use those gloves of yours to pick it up—you won’t have to worry about splinters that way! We also have no idea how long it’ll take for the search party to locate us, so we’ll need to find enough sustenance to tide us over until we are rescued. There is bound to be a scallywinkle or two on the seashore. They’re edible as long as you give them a good grilling on a bonfire first. You’ll need some wood to build the fire. Luckily for us, there are plenty of pieces of driftwood and broken barrels from the shipwreck lying about. You may as well put them to use. The last thing we need would be a proper bed if I am to get my beauty sleep. I can’t be expected to put my head down for the night on these lumpy old rocks! I don’t imagine you’re capable of building four posters, so we shall have to make do with three piles of straw bedding place them in the room when you are done.”

Malroth growls as she finishes her sentence. “Hey! Don’t start telling us what to do, bossyboots! Who made you the leader here, anyway?” She puts her hands on her hips and glares at him. 

“Oh, pipe down, you Neanderthal. You don’t even have the common decency to wear a proper shirt. Don’t think you’re impressing anyone with those oh-so-mighty muscles!” My face flushes at that but Malroth isn’t done. 

“Say that again and I’ll show you how mighty these muscles are!” I don’t even know what to say to stop them but before I can Lulu turns her gaze to me and puts on her best doe eyes to stare at me with. He voice is sweet as she addresses me. 

“Oh, builder! You’ll do these little favors for me, won’t you? You’ll save me from this savagery?” I sigh softly and smile at her because there is nothing, I love more than building.

“Yes of course.” She grins at me and takes my hands in hers. “That’s wonderful! I knew you’d do exactly as I asked! You can consider these little tasks as training exercises if you like. Then, when you become a fully-fledged builder, you’ll have me to thank for it.” Malroth glares at her. 

“Training exercises? Who does this girl think she is?” He steps closer to me and lowers his voice so only I can hear him. 

“Remember what I said before about putting her out of her misery? Well how about we put her out of OUR misery instead?” I hush him with a smile and shake my head. 

“I’m going to go gather what we need and get started.” Malroth looks between me and Lulu and I can see the choice he has in his head. “

I’ll go with you Selene.” I nod gratefully at him as we head outside.

“God that girl really gives me the hump! First, she won’t stop whingering, then the moment she wants something done, she’s barking out orders like we’re her servants!” 

He looks at me seriously. “Don’t let her boss you around, okay? You’re a builder at the end of the day, not her lackey.” His words make a warmth grow in my chest. 

“Thank you, Malroth. I can’t be upset with her after all she’s strand…. ---- Yeah, yeah, I know she’s stranded here too. But that doesn’t mean you have to help her. Don’t be such a soppy sad case.” He says cutting me off. 

“She’s a castaway at the end of the day, same as us. You’ve got to look out for number one—that’s my motto!” I roll my eyes playfully and start heading to the wreckage to gather the blocks I need to fix the house. Malroth is right behind me looking at the blocks I’m grabbing and going for the same ones. 

“By the way, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask. You know you said you were a builder? Is that, like …. Something to do with a duck’s nose.” I can’t stop the laugh that escapes my lips. Malroth seems genuinely confused and I can’t help but pat him on the shoulder. He sighs softly when I don’t really give a response. 

“well, whatever this ‘Builder’ business is all about, I’ll help you--- but only so I don’t have to hang around with her!” He says nodding his head back to the small shack. 

“Have you decided which of her errands you’ll do first?” I nod looking at the 5 dark wood blocks that we have gathered in front of the shack. 

“Yes, I think most importantly we need to start with mending the walls. That’s what these blocks will do.” He nods as I pick up one block and bring it to a hole on the upper left side of the wall. I place it perfectly and it fits almost like it was made for the wall. Malroth sees what I am doing and begins handing me the blocks so that I can finish patching all of the holes. Before long, the room is complete and Malroth is smiling at our work.

“Selene! You repaired my room!” Lulu calls from inside. She opens the door with a grin. “Now I have somewhere to hide should the monsters attack! Not bad for an apprentice builder. I am so happy to have a place to stay! You two are welcome to stop by anytime!” With that she shuts the door again behind her. 

“That little...!” Malroth snarls at the door. “It’s okay I’ll make another room right next to hers where you and I can stay... that is if you don’t mind rooming with me.” He looks over at me losing all of the anger and tension he held a moment ago. 

“I don’t mind but can we please move away from her. The last thing I need is to hear her screams first thing in the morning.” I nod gathering all of my unused blocks and hauling them to a spot closer to the water away from Lulu’s room. I start building and the entire time I can feel Malroth’s unnerving ruby eyes on my back. I make quick work of our home and then head off to the beach looking for the scallywinkles that Lulu had mentioned.

“What are you looking for?” Malroth says stepping into the ankle-deep water next to me. 

“I’m looking for what we can eat… Right here, perfect!” I say pulling a large pink clam from the water. Malroth eyes it for a moment before looking in the water and plucking another from the water. 

“That’s wonderful Malroth you found one!” I say with a smile, he looks down at the clam and back up at me. “I guess…. I did.” He says handing it over to me as I use the bottom of my dress to hold the clams as we look for more. By the time the sun starts setting we have a small pile of clams gathered. I pull out my book from where it is secured on my back and begin drawing a bonfire… within minutes I have a clever idea of how I can build one. I go to the room where lulu is staying and break down some driftwood leaving a small bonfire for her and placing a scallywinkle on it too cook and then making one for us inside our room. By the time I set the scallywinkles to cook I am exhausted. I go to the work bench and sigh seeing I only have enough materials for two beds and with it getting dark I don’t want to venture far from our base.

“Hey Selene! I wanted to ask you something.” I look up at him for a moment while continuing my work on the makeshift beds we will use. 

“Of course.” I nod for him to continue. 

“I keep hearing about ‘making’ and ‘materials’ and ‘builders’, but what does any of that actually mean?” My hands still for a moment and I meet his ruby gaze.

“Well when you are a builder you smash things here and there to get materials, which you use to make new stuff. That’s what being a builder is about.” I say as I finish making a bed for Lulu and then continue on to make one for Malroth. 

“Ahhh, okay… I think I’m starting to get a clearer picture of what it is you guys do.” He says taking a seat on the workbench to look at my work closer.

“I’m a little surprised you haven’t heard about builders.” I say and he frowns at that. “Look, they might be a ten and a penny where you come from, but I’m telling you. I’ve never met a builder before! Well, not that I remember, anyway. When I get my memory back, I’ll tell you all about my blissful, builder-free childhood!” I chuckle at that. 

“That sounds great.” He fidgets with the straw from the bed I am making him.

“In the meantime, if you need a helping hand smashing stuff to get materials, then I’m your man—I destroy pretty much everything I touch.” I place a hand on his fidgeting ones. 

“I appreciate the help Malroth, it means a lot.” His face flushes at that and he just looks away and doesn’t say anymore. 

“Okay I finished the beds I’m going to drop one off for Lulu and then set yours up.” He looks back at me confused seeing only the two beds. I don’t give him a chance to say anymore as I place the bed for Lulu. She is already eating the scallywinkle, I wave to her as I set the bed down and she grins up at me.

“sleep well Lulu, we will see you in the morning.” She nods heading over to her bed. When I step out Malroth is holding the makeshift bed waiting for me just outside our room. When I reach his side, we enter together and Malroth places it on the ground.

“So, you want to explain to me where you plan on sleeping?” He says raising an eyebrow as I hand him a seared scallywinkle. 

“On the floor.” I say taking a bite of the scallywinkle. I slightly cringe, I was never a fan of sea food. “That’s not fair, you build us this stuff, but you don’t even get to sleep in it.” I look up at him confused. “I build because it makes me happy, I don’t mind not having a place to sleep as long as you and Lulu do.” He shakes his head at me.

“You are unbelievable.” He digs into his food quietly and once we finish; he goes to the bed and scoots against the wall leaving a bit of space.

“Come here, I don’t want you complaining in the morning that you didn’t sleep well.” My heart aches at his kindness and I can’t help but smile as I sit down next to him. I pull the twin pigtails from my hair and brush my fingers through my scarlet locks. When I finish, I lay my head down on the straw and close my eyes to rest. I can feel Malroth’s warmth he’s like a radiating heater. I can’t help but curl closer into Malroth, I hear a sharp intake of his breath, but he doesn’t say a word.


	2. Day 2 Meeting the spirit guardian of the isle of awakening

When morning comes, I open my eyes to see that I am sleeping on Malroth’s chest, his arm is wrapped tightly around me as he snores softly. I remove his arm gently from my waist and head outside. I go to the water near our room and splash some water on my face.

“Selene…?” I turn to see Malroth walking my way rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

“Hey, you look tired are you sure you don’t want to sleep some more.” He shakes his head and stands next to my side. 

“It got cold after you left.” I blink up at him slightly surprised at his words. 

“You know, I’m impressed… you made everything we need to stay alive… I… I wish I could do what you do….” He sighs softly looking at his hands before looking back up. I notice his eyes stray to the work bench close to Lulu’s. 

“Hey Selene, can I have a go on that workbench? I want to try making something myself.” I stand dusting my dress off. 

“Of course.” I nod my head to the bench and his eyes light up instantly. I watch as he races towards the bench and I can’t help the lighthearted laughter that escapes my lips. I walk up to the bench next to him my hands clasped behind my back.

“I’ve been watching you make stuff all day yesterday, and I’m fairly sure I know exactly what to do. Watch this Selene, I’m going to be a builder just like you!” His excitement is infectious, I am very delighted to see what he’s going to create. 

“Now then, what is it you do first?” He murmurs to himself as he eyes the objects on the bench. He picks up some materials and starts working and just when it looks like he’s got it… something seems off. Malroth tilts his head leaning in to examine his work and within a few seconds the object makes a small popping noise and the materials break apart. Malroth is staring at the workbench in frustration… 

“No… that’s not right.” He tries again putting even more effort into this object but once again the materials fall apart. 

“Damn it! Why isn’t this working!” He cries out in anger as he slams his hands on the workbench. 

“Alright you asked for it!” He growls and I am about to lift my hand to stop him… and explain how building works but he’s at it again throwing the materials together. I look at the materials in sadness knowing exactly what is coming next… This time the popping sound is louder than before. Malroth’s shoulders slump.

“What did I do wrong? It doesn’t make sense.” He growls again “Gah! Why can’t I make things!? At this rate, I’ll never be a builder!” I place a hand on his arm to try and comfort him, but he just shrugs it off. 

“Ah, forget it. I thought making stuff would be all fun and games, but it’s actually way harder than it looks.” He sighs looking at me from under his raven lashes with the same type of look Lulu gave me before asking me to build her things. 

“Sorry, Selene. I’ll be relying on you to build things for me from here on out.” His voice changes from sorrow filled to mischievous in an instant. 

“And seeing as you made all that stuff for Lulu, I think it’s about time you evened things out and made something for me!” I look at Malroth and think for a moment before I feel the lightbulb in my head light up… I pull out my book and begin sketching the image in my mind. I see a club with spikes covering it and I feel that it matches Malroth’s personality. I quickly put my book back and grab a few rocks and pieces of wood and start working on the club diligently. He’s watching me over my shoulder as I put the finishing touches on it. 

“What are you waiting for, Gimmie, Gimmie, Gimmie!” He says pulling the club from my hands, I hand over a strap made from dry grass so that it can hook over his shoulder as well. 

“Is this for me? What would I want with a silly old stick?” The way he says it slightly hurts my feelings, He sounds extremely disappointed, but I think he would understand more if I explained it. 

“It’s not just any stick, it’s an oaken club. You can use it to whack stuff and fight monsters.” His eyebrows raise as he looks at the club.

“Ha! That sounds right up my alley! Alright, I’ll keep it. Now stand back while I give this beauty a few test swings.” My heart swells at the enthusiasm he’s showing, and I do as he says and stand a ways from him. He swings it around so easily it’s almost as if he’s a natural at wielding weapons. Before I’ve realized it, I am already clapping in amazement at Malroth.

“I like it!... no, I LOVE IT! Squishing slimes will be so much more satisfying now!” Those rubies turn to me and I see admiration pooling in his eyes.

“And to think you made it using only the junk we found on the beach… You’re amazing!” I can feel my pulse quicken at his praise; I know my cheeks must be a bright pink against my peach skin.

“Thanks Selene, this club is the best present anyone’s ever given me…. I think.” He gives me the sweetest smile and I feel like my heart is going to stop in my chest. 

“Wait… Do you feel that Selene? Some kind of evil aura… it must be coming from a monster, but whatever it is, it’s way more dangerous than those scrawny little slimes we saw before. This could be a good chance for you to learn a thing or two about how to fight. Just follow my lead and you’ll be scrapping with the best of them in no time. From what I feel the monster is somewhere down the coast to the west. Come on, I want to break in my new club by breaking that sucker’s skull!” I nod quickly making my own stick just in case. When I finish, I follow behind Malroth as he leads me to where the aura is coming from. Where walking into what looks like a small cave. He pulls the club out and looks around the cave. 

“Let me go first and see what...” He took one step and a group of overgrown fat rats scurried out of their hiding spots. Malroth smirks and wastes no time jumping into the fray swiping at his enemies. I know I can’t let him do this alone, so I join in swiping at the rats that are trying to bite at him. We attack them hitting them when we see an opening and dodging when they try to pull in closer. And before long they are all dead. 

“Yes, we did it!” I cried raising my hand to Malroth who was just as pumped up as I was. He smacks my hand with a grin before realizing what he just did.

“Whoa, what was that? When you stuck your hand out just then. I got this irresistible urge to slap it.” I softly laugh somehow; I knew this was coming.

“It’s called a high five. It’s something friends do to celebrate a job well done.” He looks slightly embarrassed as he meets my gaze. 

“Huh, I never thought of myself as the touchy-feely type, but maybe I can make an exception for this high five malarkey. Anyway, how did you enjoy the battle, I feel fitter already!” I nod at his words.

“I do feel a bit stronger.” He plants his hands on his hips. 

“It felt good whacking that rat, right? It’s like an irritating little itch has been well and truly scratched. But don’t forget you’re a builder, not a fighter! If you want to stick to the construction, you can leave the monster-mashing to me. Still… building does look like fun. I wish I could make stuff like you do, but I guess wanton destruction is much more my bag.” He says putting his hands in his pockets.

“Either way, I’m here to build for you or help you to learn how to build. It makes me happy that you are having fun.” He looks up at me and once again that soft smile spreads over his lips. 

“Selene, I’m glad I met you… What do you say we explore the whole island together, just you and me?” I can feel the butterflies in my stomach running rampant. “I would really like that Malroth.” He beams at me and I decide that maybe getting kidnapped by monsters in Cantlin wasn’t the worst thing in the world because it brought me here, It let me meet Malroth and it let me create amazing things for the people I befriended. 

“EEEK, NOOOO!” we hear Lulu’s scream down the beach and my adrenaline kicks into double time. Malroth and I are sprinting back to the beach. When we get there, we don’t see any monsters or Lulu. I go to her door but Malroth stops me, he raises his club and opens the door slowly and he is about to strike.

“MALROTH STOP!” I say and he pauses almost hitting Lulu. I sigh in relief… she’s fine. 

“What’s wrong Lulu is there a monster?” She raises her eyes to glare at him.

“My scallywinkle! It’s disappeared!” My knees give out and I fall back on the floor leaning against the wall. All of the adrenaline has drained, and I feel tired.

“What?” he is looking at her like she’s out of her mind. She digs a finger into his chest.

“Alright, Malroth, own up--- I know it was you! I purposely only ate half of that seared scallywinkle last night so I could have the rest for breakfast! Give it back this instant!” Malroth slaps her hand away sizing her up with his own glare.

“What are you wittering on about? I haven’t touched your many half-munched mollusk!” but within an instant his expression changes and he’s looking around us curiously. Then he dashes outside, Lulu shakes her head at him and offers me a hand to stand up. I nod gratefully as she pulls me to my feet. 

“Hey, you two! You’re going to want to see this!” we both head outside to see what looks like a glowing gold monster carrying a mallet.

“aha! There’s the culprit! That monster must be the one who snaffled my scallywinkle!” we run up to him in time to see him start swinging his mallet around jumping from side to side. As soon as he sees the 3 of us, he turns to the wall behind him and smashes it to bits with his mallet. “whoa, it just took down the whole cliff! Are those steps!?” He called out in awe.

“Ho ho ho! This way, young whip-whip-whippersnappers!” I take a deep breath and look at Lulu and Malroth. 

“That floating freak can’t seriously expect us to follow it…. Can it?” I look at the staircase and it looks incredibly old.

“Maybe it’d be able to tell us about this island.” Malroth nods and Lulu sighs.

“Let’s go after it. I want my scallywinkle back!” We agree and all head for the stairs taking them two at a time. There is a path between a set of braziers, and we can only follow it all the way up the mountain. When we get to the top we are standing on a large symbol of a mallet. It’s the universal symbol for all builders. He has it hidden away like a shrine and I can’t help but feel in awe of the architecture. In the middle the monster appears and looks at me in surprise. “What is a place like this doing on a deserted island?” Malroth murmurs from beside me. I step forward to speak to the monster who is eyeing all of us intently. 

“There’s no escape now, you sneaky scallywinkle swindler! Just hand over the bivalve and no one gets hurt!” Both Malroth and I look at each other in bewilderment before turning to look at Lulu who just yelled at the monster. 

“Surely a noble lady can permit a hungry ham-ham-hammerhood her half-snarfed leftovers?” She places her hands on her hips and growls at him. “I’ll tolerate no excuses! Stealing is stealing, no ifs or buts about it! Selene seared that scallywinkle especially for me! Now give it back, you horrible, hoary, hairy hermit!” He begins bouncing with joy at the mention of my name. 

“Ah, yes… Selene. It just so happens that I’ve been waiting for a builder to rock-rock-rock up here for… oh, for an awfully long time indeed!” Something about the way he says that makes me feel nervous. 

“Wait, how do you know Selene is a builder?” The monster tilts its head looking at Malroth.

“Ho, ho! You’re an observant one, aren’t you? Why, the very reason I pinched that scrum-scrum-scrumptious scallywinkle was to lure your fine friend up here.” Malroth instantly steps in front of me blocking me from the monster’s view. 

“Look around you, Selene. This temple has lain in this sorry state for longer than I can recall. If you are a builder, I believe you to be, then perhaps you can fix-fix-fix it. Everything you need to rebuild the temp-temp-temple is right here in these chests. Though a fresh-faced builder like you might find the going dif-dif-difficult without a blueprint as a guide…” With that he disappears leaving me confused. Malroth is annoyed and he doesn’t hold back when he yells at the monster from wherever it disappeared to. 

“Come back here, you conniving old codger! If you think we’re going to fix your house for free, you’ve got another thing coming!” He sighs seeing no response from the monster, he turns to me.

“What is a blueprint anyways.” I don’t answer I just look around us at the architecture and suddenly my mind is filled with the images of what this temple should look like completed. I pull my book from my back and flip through some of the pages to see if there is anything else to add. Then I start sketching it out immediately and before long the blueprint is complete. I place it on the floor and just seeing it has me pumped up. I run past Lulu and Malroth to the chests and start digging at all the blocks he has laid out for me. Malroth comes up behind me. 

“Er…Selene? Why did you draw all these lines on the ground? Is this one of those blueprints the hammerhood was telling us about?” I look up at him with the biggest smile on my face and nod.

“Yes, it is, I am excited to see what I can add to the place to fix it up.” Lulu looks around at the markings as I pull the blocks and braziers out.

“Gosh… you’ve never even been here before, but you were still able to draw up a design for this mountain temple. That’s incredible!” Lulu cheers as I start placing the blocks where I made my lines. I make quick work of it and set the braziers in the middle of the four sets of square blocks surrounding the builders hammer on the floor. Once it is complete Malroth wastes no time to come up and give me a high five.

“You did it Selene! You completed the blueprint.” I grin at him as they both admire my work. 

“You didn’t even break a sweat! I think I’ll have you build me a palace next. That shouldn’t be any trouble for an expert like you!” Malroth is looking around at it almost still curious about the entire process. 

“Answer me one thing, though-how did you come up with that blueprint in the first place?” He steps closer to me while I look at him in surprise, his eyes stray to the book on my back.

“Wait, I think I know the answer! That big book on your back has everything you need to know to be a builder written inside!” He goes to snatch the book from my back, but I am faster, I pull the book out and hold it tightly to my chest.

“You’re busted now, Selene. The secret’s out, so you may as well let me read it.” I squeeze it tighter my face flushing, I shake my head. 

“I can’t let you read it. I’m sorry.” Malroth looks at me stunned.

“You won’t? Why not?” I can feel my embarrassment building. The last thing I need is for Malroth to see what I keep in this book. 

“Is something wrong Selene? You’ve gone all red.” Lulu says as she gives me a worried glance. Before they can say anymore the hairy hermit appears again before me. I use the distraction to tuck my book safely where it belongs.

“You’ve finished repairing the temple, I see. I knew you would-would-wouldn’t let me down. All it took was a glance, and you drew up that blueprint as quick-quick-quick as a flash! You’re the real deal, Selene a builder born and bred-bred-bred. As a thank you for your arduous work I would like to give you a present.” I step closer to the hermit who offers me a decently sized hammer. I smile because it is a wonderful gift… now I can destroy blocks and gather new materials a lot easier. 

“I also have another cork-cork-corking gift for you, Selene. I’m sure you will like this one even more.” I blink the small tears that have gathered in my eyes away and look up at the hermit…. What could possibly be even better than this hammer?

“I give you… this island! All of it! Every last block-block-block!” This time I can’t stop the tears of gratitude that fall from my eyes. He’s actually giving me the whole island…. To create whatever, I please. So even if we don’t get rescued we can turn this place into our new home…

“Whaaaaat!? You’re giving her this entire island and all she did was repair the temple.” Lulu answers completely baffled by the hairy hermit’s decision.

“This world was once home to a legendary builder. They came to this island… the isle of awakening and sought to turn it into their very own piece of paradise. But now, everything has crum-crum-crumbled away. All that remains is the ancient builders belief, embed-bed-bedded in the blocks beneath us. Long have I waited for another builder to come… one who can bring life back to this barren land, block by block-block-block.” Malroth gives me a sympathetic look and addresses the hammerhood next.

“And you want Selene here to do all the challenging work? We don’t even know what were supposed to build! Besides, we don’t even know who you are, either! I bet this island isn’t even yours to give away!” The hermit doesn’t like that he begins bouncing again.

“It’ certainly is mine-mine-mine! I’ll have you know I’m the guardian spirit of this island and what I say goes!” The hermit still seems pretty steamed, but Lulu turns to me.

“well, it looks like you’ve just become the proud owner of an exclusive island, Selene. Are you going to take the offer? If you do accept, would you mind if I stayed here? I don’t really have anywhere else to go…” I use my sleeve to wipe the tears from my eyes. 

“I’ll stick around too, at least until I’ve got my memory back. I mean if that’s okay with you.” Malroth adds giving me a hopeful expression. 

“What do you say Selene? Will you take the island?” I look around at everyone and grin.

“Of course, I will take the island. I will make you proud.” I say to the hairy hermit who smiles. “I just knew you’d make the right decision! Now we can begin work on Lulutopia! The first thing I want is a palace. Malroth, I need you to—Lulutopia!? I don’t think so! Today we establish Malroth’s empire of evisceration, right, Selene? And she can be our first sacrifice!” Malroth smirks at me hoping that I will join him in his endeavor. 

He turns his gaze to Lulu who is already glaring at him. Both plant their hands on their hips and huff looking away from each other. I place my hands on both of their shoulders.

“Ho ho ho, you young upstarts! This island belongs to Selene now. You should leave big-big-big decisions like these up to her.” I laugh a big smile on my face as I look between the two of them. “This island is big enough to build whatever we want. Lulu can have a castle and Malroth I will make you anything you ask.” His face quickly becomes tinged with pink as he hears my declaration. 

“What you should start with is traveling to other islands to bring back-back-back a few friends to help you out. I doubt you will make much headway with just the three of you. Besides, it gets lonely rat-rat-rattling around on this big island all by yourself a few fresh faces will really liven the place up!” The ideas are springing to life in my mind already but that is all stopped short when Malroth speaks again. 

“Hold on, I thought we were stranded here. How are we supposed to get to these other islands without a ship?” Malroth says still skeptical of the hermit.

“Ho ho ho! A top-top-top notch question indeed and one that the heavens shall soon answer!” He says smugly back to Malroth who shakes his head at the old hammerhood. “You’re just winging this, aren’t you? You don’t have a clue!” Lulu hums curiously as she looks out at the edge of the beach in an area, we hadn’t reached… 

“is that…?” She says as we all look out to see a small sailing boat docked on the edge of the island. “A ship-ship-ship! Whoever would have thought it?” He says looking at Malroth who grunts at him crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Let’s go talk to the captain of that ship and get the work started!” Lulu says running straight in the direction of the ship. I look at Malroth who shakes his head at her. When we look at each other a smile worms its way on his lips. 

“Wanna race?” Malroth grins at the challenge. 

“Bring it on builder, let’s see what you’ve got!” Before anymore can be said we, both take off running as fast as we can towards the ship. It’s exhilarating to feel the wind in my hair and the adrenaline pumping through my veins. We pass Lulu quickly who screams at us as we pass her by. Malroth is fast but so am I. We make it to the ship at the same time and I can’t help but collapse in front of the captain. 

“Come on Selene, I barely broke a sweat.” Malroth says taunting me as he helps me stand back up. 

“Ahoy there, me briny bilge rats! I haven’t seen any other humans for fathoms! The name is brown beard. I was paintin’ the ocean blue, mindin’ me bee’s knees, when I sailed right into the path o’ one of the children of Hargon’s slave ships. I managed to avoid ‘em, but only by steerin’ into a terrible storm. By the time I realized me map was back-to-front, I was already stuck in a coffee stain! I tried to turn back, but I was lost at sea that’s when I eyed this island on me port board bow an’ punted over.” Lulu gets there just in time to speak for everyone, but I can’t help but eye that ship. It had to be the reason why we were thrown from the slave ship and ended up here. 

“My name is Lulu, and this is the kingdom of Lulutopia. Or at least it will be once Selene here is finished.” He rubs his chin and smiles. 

“Lulutopia, eh? Sounds like a lovely place for land-lovers like yerselves. Aye, and a safe haven for a salted old sea dog like me! Goddess only knows what would have become o’ me if I hadn’t sloshed up on these shores!” Malroth is still holding onto me distracted by Lulu and brownbeard.

“Goddess only knows what this guy’s talking about.” He says with a sigh finally noticing he’s still holding me. He lets go quickly and crosses his arms over his chest. 

“Tell ye what, if you let me stick around, I’ll be yer chauffeur. I’ll ship ye off to any island from here to the second stain on me map’s backside.” He looks at us pleadingly. “Well, your boat’s a bit on the small side, but it looks in decent nick. I’d say we got a deal!” Malroth says with a grin. “Everything is dropping into place. The fine captain will take you to nearby islands where I’m sure you’ll find plenty of materials and able-bod-bod-bodied helpers to bring back.” The hairy hermit says appearing in front of us once more. 

“Well, the first thing Lulutopia needs is a little greenery. I can picture it now-tree-lined boulevards, spacious parks and tables sagging under the weight of freshly picked vegetables!” The hermit nods at that thoughtful. “In that case, you should first visit Furrowfield, an island to the east, famed for its fertile fields and fruit-fruit-fruitful farms. Yes, the island is home to a young lass with a bright future in farming, and a dash-dash-dashing dandy with a bushy beard. They should be able to help your cause. I’ll mark-mark-mark it on Captain Brown beard’s map- you just leave the sailing to him.” Malroth and I look at each other and then to Lulu. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll hold the fort while you two are off gallivanting around this Furrowfield place. Just be sure to bring me back a souvenir! And don’t forget the materials and helpers either.” I take a deep breath and look back at Malroth.

“That sound good to you?” Malroth grins. “Of course, let’s go explore!” He says running onto the ship and sitting at the front of the ship. I leave all of my items in the storage sack nearby before I step on as well standing close by him looking out at the ocean. Lulu waves goodbye to us as brownbeard begins sailing away. Malroth is sitting cross-legged on the bow while I let the gentle breeze caress my face. The wind is salty, and it almost reminds me of Cantlin. I take a seat with my back towards where Malroth is seated and close my eyes resting before we reach Furrowfield.


	3. Furrowfield Farm

Furrowfield

Selene  
“Selene… Hey Selene!” I was startled out of my sleep by Malroth who pulled me to my feet. We had already docked at Furrowfield.

“Come on Selene, I want to go further inland to see what this island has in store!” I nod following behind him as we step out onto the broken-down wooden dock. We walk through a path of sullied soil that leads into the island and I am surprised to see that there doesn’t look to be any healthy soil in sight. 

“This island is pretty odd don’t you think Selene? The trees are all withered, the ground’s gross and slimy…. And the whole place stinks like someone left a sack of apples in the sun for a month.” He cringes slightly.

“Do you really think we’ll find the greenery we’re after in a slimy stinky place like this?” I shake my head looking around us.

“No something isn’t right there isn’t a patch of healthy soil in sight anywhere.” He frowns at that and looks behind me.

“What in the hell is that!? It’s some kind of pink… pulsating thing!” He’s right… its unlike anything I’ve ever seen before… 

“Let’s go check it out but be careful… we have no idea what that thing could be.” Malroth gives me a smug smirk.

“I’m not worried, if it’s anything that could hurt us. Don’t worry Selene… I will protect you.” I can feel the butterflies again. I stare at Malroth who gives me one last smile before heading towards it. I just stare after him for a moment because I have to calm my racing heart. I can’t help but wonder why I am reacting like this to a few words…

He’s been kind to me since we washed up on that beach… but that doesn’t mean that he cares about me at all…I am just here to help him survive. I swallow hard pushing these new emotions down, because I don’t know what they mean and I’m not sure I can handle what they do mean. I walk up beside him eying the strange pink blob.

“You think it’s edible?” I question to Malroth who leans in to try and smell it better. Then just as he leans in the blob seems to explode and a dusky pink mist is scattered around us. I cover my mouth quickly tears welling in my eyes and look to Malroth who is sputtering beside me. 

“Ugh! That stupid thing just blew up in my face!” I can smell the awful sickly-sweet scent of rot as it fills the air.

“Fuck, it turned the dirt around it all gross and slimy too!” I am starting to get worried for him when he finally leans his head back and laughs. 

“I’ve heard of fruit going off before, but not like that! This place is crazy!” I just shake my head at him happy that he isn’t hurt.

“HEEELP!!!” We both turn to see where that scream came from.

“Leave me alone! There’s no point in trying to eat me—I’m nothing but skin and bone!” A girl cries a short ways away from us. Malroth looks out at the distance and he looks elated by the turn of events.

“This sounds like fun! Come on, lets go see what all the screaming is about?” He suggests and then takes off in the direction of the screams. I shake my head at him because he loves fighting, he doesn’t even care about the danger he is putting himself in… but I have to be by his side because I won’t let anything happen to him. I take off after him seeing a girl standing on top of a small hill being surrounded by two red Badboons. She catches sight of us and cries out. 

“Please help me, please!” At that moment, the Badboons notice us too and Malroth pulls his club from his back and stares at the monsters. 

“Now, this isn’t very nice. Trying to attack this poor defenseless girl. Why don’t you pick on someone who can actually fight back…? Like me?” That seems to anger the monsters and they charge at him. I pull the weapon I crafted and sighed before running straight at one of the Badboons aiming at Malroth. 

I tackle it out of Malroth’s way, and it howls in anger at me. We crash to the ground together and I have to roll out of the way of its attack.

“Selene! Tell me you got this?!” he calls out dodging an attack from the Badboon he’s fighting. I push myself off of the ground and raise the stick to attack the beast that is now charging at me. 

“Worry about yourself!” I call out to him just as he almost gets swiped at by his enemy. I hit the badboon hard stopping it from attacking for only a moment. I try to use the second to look over at Malroth to see he is finishing off his enemy… 

“Goddamn it Selene!” He roars and It makes me look back at the Badboon who I had let my guard down on. It hits me hard knocking me off of my feet and tearing part of my dress. I hit the ground with a grunt my stick skidding away from me. The pain is blossoming in my stomach and it takes me a moment to catch my breath. I look up to see the monster standing over me and it seems to have a sinister glint in its eyes as it smirks down at me.

“DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE!” Malroth growled at the beast and he moved so quickly I almost couldn’t follow the movement. He slammed his club down on the monster’s head as hard as he could and with a few more hits he finished it off. He was so angry I could see his hands shaking and I could see the rise and fall of his chest as he caught his breath.

“You… you tell me to worry about myself and then get hurt trying to keep an eye on me? I can handle myself!” He shouts at me; His words hurt my feelings because I couldn’t help but take a look to check if he were okay. I bow my head in shame because he’s right. I told him I could handle it and I end up getting hurt watching him. Seeing him angry at me makes me really sad. I can’t help but feel the urge to cry, I push it back because I don’t want to seem any weaker to him than I already do. He comes to my side and his ruby eyes are filled with anger as he offers me his hand to help me to my feet. I can’t take his hand no matter how much I want to… I can practically feel the disappointment radiating off of him.

I shake my head at him, pushing myself to my feet despite the pain in my stomach, I know I will have a bruise later. He just grunts in my direction clenching his fist and turning his back to me 

“It’s time to get some info out of Sally Screamsalot.” He utters walking passed me to the girl. I pull my hair from the twin pigtails I usually sport because that fall got some grass and twigs in my hair. I am running my fingers through my hair as the girl cries to herself. She’s curled into herself holding her hands over her ears. 

“So, this is how I die—as dinner for a big, stinky ape.” She sobs while Malroth rolls his eyes at her.

“I hope I give them horrible indigestion!” Malroth looks back at me still annoyed. 

“We didn’t save her out of the goodness in our hearts, right? Let’s make her to tell us about the island.” I nod to him as I place a had on the girls shoulder and she looks up at us and around her.

“Wait… the monsters, they’re gone! Those scaredy- cats must have turned tail and fled when they finally worked out who they were dealing with!” she giggles, and I can’t help the smile that comes to my lips… she sure is an odd one. Her hair is long and blue reaching past her shoulders. She has large black glasses framing her mahogany eyes. 

“When did you two get here?” She says tilting her head looking between Malroth and I. 

“We took care of those monsters for you.” Malroth said crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Oh! You took care of those monsters! Thank you so much for your help! My name is Rosie. What’s yours? And just what are you doing here?” she questions excitedly.

“I’m Selene an apprentice builder.” I say offering my hand to her to shake, she takes it gratefully before I nod my head over to Malroth.

“This is my friend Malroth, he has a bit of amnesia. But we are here to find out how to add a little greenery to our home island.” She looks at him with a curious expression.

“So, an apprentice builder and an amnesiac, coming to find healthy soil to create greenery.” She shakes her head at me. “You know, going around telling everyone you’re a builder is a risky business. There’s no telling how they might react.” Malroth scoffs at that.

“If anyone reacts badly it gives me an excuse to send them to an early grave.” I try to smile at his words but it’s hard, I feel like he’s really upset with me and I don’t know what to do… I place a hand on the wound I endured and try to calm the pain as Rosie continues.

“You’re lucky you met me… and I might be lucky that I met you...” She seems deep in thought for a moment and just when Malroth is going to bark a question at her she speaks. 

“Alright! My mind’s made up! You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few rules! As the finest farmer on Furrowfield, it’s my duty and pleasure to give you the grand tour of it’s finest farm! Come on, follow me!” Her words bring a smile back to Malroth’s lips and he looks over at me to confirm if we are following after her. I shrug for a moment before nodding. It definitely couldn’t hurt; there’s no way Lulu will let me live it down if we come home empty handed. We begin walking behind the girl who will lead us to the farm to get the tools we need. We follow her into a clearing that has broken down for a while. 

There’s a strange planter box surrounded by a broken-down cobble stone moat. To the north west is a small shack if it can even be called that… there’s a door but not really any walls attached to it aside from the ones holding it up. To the north is a very small wheat garden but from here I could see one of those pink blobs that exploded on Malroth. She turns to face us with a smile. 

“Well, here we are, Furrowfield farm! The greatest, greenest garden on the island…. How do you like it?” Malroth is staring at her skeptically.

“Err… I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but its not that great… not very green… it really isn’t a garden.” I elbowed Malroth in the ribs and gave him a disapproving look while he rolled his eyes and closed his mouth.

“oh, I know… That’s because we haven’t built it yet.” Rosie says and Malroth’s eyes go to me and it hits him as to what is she’s implying. “Furrowfield, used to be a plant-lovers paradise, with vegetables and flowers growing everywhere and anywhere. But then the spoilspores appeared, and turned the earth into horrible, stinky slime… you can hardly even grow weeds in it. There was once a great farm here the biggest brightest on the whole island. And if all of us put our minds to it, I think we can bring it back.” Malroth points up at two guys that are up by the wheat field. 

“Are they a part of this too?” I look over to see a boy with auburn hair styled in an undercut looking at the spoilspore. Behind him is an older man with chestnut brown hair and a bushy beard. 

“Come, Perry there must be something we can do! This is the last of the wheat, not to mention the soil… we’ve scant enough arable earth as it is….” The bearded man sighs inching closer to the spore.

“I wun’t stand so close if I were you, Mister Bononzo, sir. This ‘ere spoilspore looks like it could go off any minute.” 

Malroth  
Those idiots… I shake my head as the spore pops spraying the whole area and destroying the last bit of good soil in the land.

“Bononzo, Perry! Are you alright!? Quick you two! We have to get over there and make sure they’re okay!” Selene nods to her and goes straight to the two guys who just had the same thing I went through happen to them. I sighed and walked up to hear that bushy beard guy look at me and Selene. 

“hm? And who are you two, pray tell? I’ve not seen your faces before, and to be honest I rather liked it that way.” I glared at him, while Selene frowned.

“This is Selene and Malroth. Selene says she’s a builder!” The boy next to Rosie looks at her like she’s crazy.

“Blimmin’ ‘eck! What kind o’ lady goes around tellin’ everyone she’s a builder? She must ‘ave something wrong with her hea…” his sentence cuts off as he finally looks at Selene and his eyes seem to light up.

“Well said! Listen here, young Rosie you may have fooled us this far, but we shall not be taken for ninnies! If you expect us to believe that this so-called ‘builder’ will somehow salvage this preposterous plan of yours, you are gravely mistaken. Come along Perry, we’re leaving!” Perry is still staring at Selene and he shakes his head. 

“But the lady… she may need our ‘elp!” I glare at him, what the hell is he thinking… I can’t stand the way he’s looking at her. It makes me really angry.

“You must face the facts, my dear Furrowfield farm is gone. The dream is over and it’s time to wake up.” He says grabbing that annoying kid by the arm and pulling him away from us. I growl at them.

“That stuck up beardy bloke really rubbed me up the wrong way!” I turn to Selene and Rosie who are both looking disheartened. 

“Still, facial hair felonies aside, he’s got a point. There’s no point trying to rebuild this farm if the soil’s no good. You’re wasting your time.” Selene’s face goes from disheartened to absolutely upset… she looks like she might cry. It gives a really heavy feeling in my chest and I don’t like it. I don’t know why I feel this way and it really bothers me. 

“No! I’m the finest farmer on Furrowfield, and Selene is a real live builder! If we work together, I know we can do it!” The girls are determined to build this place back up. 

“Wow, you really don’t know when to give up do you? Why do you want to rebuild this place anyways?” Rosie looks up at me hopeful. 

“Why because like Bononzo said it’s my dream?” I shake my head at that.

“A dream, huh? You know, I never really got my head around all this ‘hopes and dreams’ stuff people go on about…” She turns to Selene and begs her.

“Please Selene, I can’t do it on my own… You’ll help me rebuild Furrowfield farm… won’t you?” I sigh because like the pushover she is I know what she is going to say next.

“Yes, I would love to help you fix up Furrowfield.” The girls grin at each other as Rosie cheers. 

“Yippeeee! Now that I’ve got a builder on board, the farm’s as good as built!” She wraps her arms around Selene and looks up at me. 

“Selene, Malroth welcome to the team! We’re going to make this place the best farm ever!” She pulls away from Selene to look around the farm. 

“We can start with a field to plant our crops in… if only we had a sign.” Selene’s big grey eyes light up as she takes a seat next to the work bench. Rosie goes behind her and begins plucking the random twigs and grass from Selene’s scarlet locks. Selene lets her toy with the strands and untangle them as she pulls that big book off of its pouch on her back. She’s scribbling in it again while Rosie diligently works and before long, she is putting the book back over her shoulder. Selene thanks her and pulls her hair into the twin pigtails she normally has.

“What’s up Selene… you look very pleased with yourself?” Rosie says as Selene begins explaining that she invented just the thing to help her. It’s called a scarecrow and it helps mark the land that needs to be tilled.

“Yes, Of course! Scarecrows are always found in fields! If we stick one in the ground, everyone will know that’s where our new field is! Hmmmmm… so where should we put it?” Rosie says looking around. I see an area with some good soil left by a broken-down shack, and I point over  
to it. Selene looks over and smiles seeing the soil in the distance. Rosie cries in excitement. 

“I can hardly wait to start tilling the soil…. But not until you officially mark the field with a scarecrow, of course! Also, if you need materials you can get cord from vines and wood from the trees.” I roll my eyes crossing my arms over my chest.

“That sounds great, I will gather what I need, and we will get to work.” Selene says with a gentle smile and begins walking away towards a cliff a ways away from our farm. I follow behind her watching as she begins tugging at the vines. But she can’t pull it down, I sigh because she isn’t asking me for help at all. She must still be steamed about what I said. 

“Selene…” She doesn’t turn only continues to keep tugging at the vines that aren’t budging from the canyon wall.

“Goddamn it Selene!” I swipe my club at the vines ripping them from the wall only to have Selene fall back with them. I catch her with one arm pulling her into me. She looks up at me with those big stormy eyes completely startled.

“Look… I didn’t mean what I said… I know if anyone can build up this farm it’s you. I also know that you didn’t try to get hurt on purpose, I was just so worried… he could have killed you. I don’t… I don’t want to imagine… I’d be stuck here alone.” She blinks up at me and I can see the tears building up in the corners of her eyes. I can’t handle tears I don’t know how to… I see the first tear fall and then the second, I open my mouth to say something to stop her tears. She wraps her arms around my shoulders and buries her tear-soaked face into my neck. I let the club go and follow her example and wrap both arms around her and squeeze her tightly against me. For some reason this feels right having her like this… 

“I’m sorry Mal…” she whimpers into my neck. I close my eyes and breathe in her scent; she smells like the ocean. 

“Don’t be sorry… It’s okay…” I whisper as she pulls back. I brush the tears from her face with my thumbs. She gives me a bright smile and I can’t help but mirror the expression. 

“Now let’s get this place back into shape so we can go home and work on our island.” She nods happily her pigtails bouncing with the movement. I help her gather the materials she needs. I break rocks for her and swipe at vines until she has what she needs hugged to her chest tightly. I watch as she drops some of the rocks on the way back to her work bench and with a sigh, I pick them up for her and lay them on the table. I jump up on the table and sit down crossing my legs in front of me. I watch she starts putting the materials together and making what looks like a makeshift person with a hat. I stay seated on the table watching as Selene and Rosie go to the soil. Selene places her scarecrow and immediately Rosie changes she begins running to till the land. I see them cheering once Rosie is finished. I can’t help but feel like they are getting overly excited over nothing… but that look on Selene’s face shuts me up… because to her this is everything. 

I’m sure everyone around her can see it too. The girls catch my attention when I see Rosie pass a small red object to Selene. I frown at that… No rest for the wicked. I get up jumping from the table and walk to Selene’s side where she is on her hands and knees burying the small objects inside the earth… they must be seeds… I’m surprised Rosie has any in a place like this. “You did it Selene, you planted all the seeds and you did a lovely job of it too! Just wait until Bonanzo and Perry see this! They’ll be begging for a piece of the agricultural action! Soon enough the seeds will sprout, and we’ll be one step closer to fulfilling my dream...” Rosie says and I clench my teeth, those two again… that’s the last thing I need is that brat following Selene around everywhere… she has me to watch her back. I chuckle to myself not like that scrawny little farmer could protect her like I can… I’m sure she knows it too. Selene looks over at me with a small smile as Rosie continues on giving her tasks.

The next of which are her creating a small well of muddy water for them to use to gather water. Just from watching her I can tell she’s going to be drawing on the ground any second now creating one of her ‘blueprints’. I sit back watching in awe as she grabs her hammer and begins breaking down the spoiled soil blocks and setting them up around the spots she marked on her blueprint. I watch as she climbs up the blocks with ease only occasionally wincing at the pain from her stomach. She begins removing the spoiled soil that is blocking the fountain from flowing.

I find it crazy how she can build these things so quickly. Rosie waters the plants quickly and lets us know that it will take a while for them to grow… she says we should clear the rocks and weeds away from the field or do pretty much anything else until they are done at which point Selene can harvest them.

“So, what should we do in the meantime?” She says after politely declining Rosie’s 12-hour story. “Maybe we should make ourselves a couple rooms… last thing we need is to be sleeping out in the open where more of those apes can get at us.” Selene nods at that while I look down to her stomach where her dress was torn. She follows my gaze before looking back up at me suddenly I feel angry again. Those beasts died way too quickly; I should have made them suffer.

“It’s okay… it doesn’t hurt anymore.” I felt my eyes narrow at her, does she think I can’t tell? 

“Liar… I saw you wince multiple times from the pain you were in while building. Let me see it.” She blinks at me confused. 

“The dress… off with it.” Her face turns pink as she shakes her head wrapping her arms around herself. For every step I took she took one back until she was pressed against the wooden wall of the broken-down shack. Just as I’m about to grab her and see how bad her wound is, she ducks down crawling into the shack through an opening in the walls. I sigh because this girl is going to make me work. I push the door open and see her setting up an escape with some blocks to try and vault her way over the wall.

“Selene…. Where do you think you’re going?” She freezes looking over her shoulder at me, she’s already two blocks up and she still needs another one to make it over the wall.

“Mal… please…” She says pressing her back against the hardwood blocks she was trying to climb over. I pull my club from over my shoulder and her eyes widen almost comically so.

“You know there is no use running.” She’s shaking her head in disbelief as I step closer. I pull the club back and swipe at the blocks holding her up. She cries out in shock jumping up her hand catching on the ledge of the wall. I stare at her in amusement because I didn’t think she’d make the jump.

“Mal! What are you doing?!” She wails as she gets her other hand on the ledge, as she glares over at me with those angry grey eyes.

“Me? I’m just trying to see how hurt you are… you are the one struggling.” She shakes her head again and manages to pull herself up onto the wall. She gives me one look and raises an eyebrow at me… 

“I told you Mal. I’m fine!” I shake my head and she glares back at me. She gives me one last look before jumping from the wall away from me. That act of defiance lights a fire in me that I can’t even explain… it’s like prey running from a predator. I have the overwhelming urge to hunt her down and teach her a lesson. 

I break through the wall easily and see Selene sprinting away from me as fast as she can. I take off after her gaining on her quickly and she doesn’t even bother looking back because she knows I’ve got her. I tackle her down flipping us so that my back hits the ground and Selene lands on top of me. I make sure not to hurt her as I roll her over and sit myself on her legs and tug her dress up to see her stomach. Underneath the dress is a black shirt and shorts I smooth her shirt up enough to see the black and purple bruise that has blossomed on her pale skin. I look over at her, but she has her head turned away from me as she stares at the sand underneath her. Her face is flushed, and she is huffing quietly but those big grey eyes are dilated to the point where there is just a small ring of silver.

“Mal…” She says the nickname she’s been calling me, in her voice I can her the small request for me to get off of her. I groan rolling off of her and into the sand next to her. 

“You really are no fun.” I sigh and she looks at me with those puppy dog eyes. I roll my eyes at her and watch as she pushes herself to her feet. She offers me her hand, I take it and let her pull me to my feet. We dust ourselves off and she looks at me offering her hand one more time. I stare at it confused but I give her my hand and watch as she laces her fingers between mine and pulls on me so I walk back towards the farm with her. She has a big smile on her face and I can’t help but smile as well at the warmth in our joined hands.


End file.
